Saint Athanasius Lutheran Church

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. At the time of the Reformation, and since, there have been those who believed this angel was a prophecy of Martin Luther. Part of the reason they did so at the time of the Reformation was because they believed they were living in the end times. Now, it turns out, the world didn't end. But their attitude was right. They were living in the end times. As are we.

When you look at something, you don't only see what you're looking at, you see what's around it as well, in your peripheral vision. This is good. We need our peripheral vision, especially when you're doing something like driving, to see things coming your way, dangers. But it can also be distracting. Things, maybe many things, drawing your attention away from the one thing you want to look at. So it is, I read recently, with a man who once could see but lost his sight, who claimed that he could see now more clearly -- without peripheral visual distractions -- than when he still had his physical sight. So it was, as we heard today, by the side of the road outside Jericho. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus saw with his ears.

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." I have trouble even getting a little piece of thread through the eye of a needle its supposed to go through! So a camel... I Googled it though. The average weight of a camel is around 1,000 pounds, it's average height is seven feet, and the ones I've seen are about four foot wide. And the eye of your typical sewing needle is measured in millimeters. So obviously, a camel isn't getting through there. But I say to you: it can.

Let's assume for the moment that this man who came up to Jesus that day and asked about eternal life really did keep all the commandments from his youth, as he said. Let's assume he was this exemplary human being that he claimed to be. And that he really did all these things out of pure love for others and not for himself. What does Jesus say to him then? Basically this: well, that's a good start. But it's only a start. And a small one at that. If you really want to know what you must do to inherit eternal life, sell all that you have and give to the poor. Surely you know that you're going to die and that you can't take it with you. So don't wait until you die; do it now. And then come, follow me.

Have you ever had an ear worm? You know what that is -- a tune, or a jingle, or a song that worms its way into your ear and you can't get rid of it. And this too -- a mind worm. That's not a song or a jingle but a thought that gets stuck in your head. Maybe it's a worry in your life, a problem, from work, or an assignment at school that you just keep thinking about and con't stop. Or how about this, I'm going to make another one up -- a heart worm. That would be a desire that worms its way into your heart. Something you want so badly that it begins to take over your life. This seems to be what happened to the disciples of Jesus. They wanted to be the greatest.

Where were you on 9-11? Twenty years ago yesterday. Some of you remember that day very well. For some of you, those events took place in cities far away from where you lived. No matter. 9-11 effected us all. 9-11 was a dark day. But we sang today: Praise the One who breaks the darkness. That darkness. Your darkness. All darkness. Jesus gave a foretaste of this victory in the story we heard in the Gospel today. All things are possible for one who believes. Because one who believes has Jesus. So where were you on 9-11? I don't know the answer for all of you, but this I know: Jesus was on His throne.

The Judaism of Jesus; day was quite different than what we read of in the Scriptures -- in the time of Moses, the Judges, and the Kings. Many of their teachings, rules, laws -- their traditions -- are not found in the pages of Scripture. They evolved and grew during this Intertestamental time, along with and under the tutelage of these groups like the Pharisees. Now, to be charitable, most were, I'm sure, well-intentioned... though a few could be considered questionable. But this is why Jesus sparred so often with the Pharisees. They were insisting their traditions be regarded and followed as the Law of God.

You've heard me say before that saints days are usually celebrated on the day of their death, not the day of their birth, because that is the day of their birthday into heaven. So today is the day the Church set aside to remember Mary's death. We don't hear of Mary's death in the Scriptures though. So today, instead of reading about Mary's death or speculating on it, we heard of what made Mary special and significant -- the birth of her son. Or, what she did and said right after she was told she was going to have a son. Which, I want to propose to you today, is the day of her death.

I am holding in my hand a check for ten million dollars. I don't remember why I got it. I don't remember what conversation I was having. But when I was at the seminary, a fellow student wrote me this check. Of course, I didn't try to cash it! You and I both know that seminarians are poor. Well that's how the Jews heard Jesus. In the Gospel today they heard Jesus say, I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Yeah, right. There's a lot of people in the world Jesus. Except He could.

You think Jesus would have been happy that people were chasing Him down. When the people woke up the morning after Jesus had fed them, after feeding so many of them with five loaves of bread and two fish, and discovered He was no longer there, they went looking for Him, even sailing across the Sea of Galilee to find Him. That took some effort. And that's a good thing isn't it? Well apparently not. For when they find Jesus, Jesus doesn't seem particularly happy to see them. He says (and I paraphrase now); You came just because you want for free food. Stop it. There's something more important going on here. The food I gave yesterday was a sign. I'm not here just to provide bread for this life, but for eternal life.

Herod is at it again. Two weeks ago, we heard how his sword came down on the neck of John the Baptist. Today it is James who feels the cold steel. The first pleased his niece; the second the Jews. But Herod's sword is a two-edged sword. On one edge might be the blood of John and James but on the other is his own. Why kill the ones who were helping him? But so it is with sin. Sin isn't rational. Sin isn't logical. Sin can't be satisfied. It always wants more. More of you, until it has all of you.

Israel was again at the border of the Promised Land. They could see it. They could almost touch it. They would, soon. The last time they were here, 40 years before this, they didn't. They didn't trust the Lord, didn't believe Him. But Moses had another concern as well. For he was about to die. And so he asked the Lord to appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.

Well done, good and faithful servant. Welcome home! He heard the words. He opened his eyes. It was light. And warm. There were the prophets he'd just been thinking about -- Jeremiah, Isaiah, Moses, and Amos. The life he preached he was now in. What had happened? And one day, just as John's headless body will rise, so will yours. Whole, complete, perfect, and glorious. Because Jesus rose. And baptized into His death, you are also baptized into His resurrection. So come and receive His body, and His life. Come receive the forgiveness of your sins. Come receive and know that -- like John -- there is nothing in all creation that can now separate you from His love.

It was time to give the apostle Paul a gift. So Paul was caught up into the third heaven. Next, he says, this man was caught up into paradise. And then, Paul says, because he had seen and heard these things, the Lord gives him his gift -- a thorn in the flesh. Not much of a gift! So, uh... no thank you, God. Please take it away, take it back. The point is what the Lord tells Paul next: My gift to you wasn't a mistake and I'm not taking it back. My grace, My gift, is sufficient for you. That is, it is of service to you. It is good for you. Your weakness is My power.

The first time I heard the word triage was when I was young and watching the TV show M*A*S*H -- a show about doctors and nurses during the Korean War. Ambulances full of wounded soldiers would come into the hospital compound and the doctors had to triage them -- determine who got treated first. Doctors and nurses still do this today, which you know if you've ever been to the Emergency Room at the hospital. If your problem isn't acute or life-threatening, you'll probably have to wait your turn. Well, Jesus seemed to get His triage wrong today. And people were frequently telling Jesus He wasn't doing it right. Well, turns out, both on the cross and in this account, Jesus knew exactly what He was doing.

Disciples are learners. So it was with the twelve. So it is with us. They were not disciples, and we are not disciples, because of what we know, but rather because we need to learn. And grow. And we have much to learn. The disciples were learning, who Jesus was. Teacher, healer, cleanser. And next: forgiver! Did they have faith? Of course they had faith! They had faith in God, and they had faith in Jesus. But they were learning to bring those two together. To have faith in Jesus as God. God in the flesh, come into His creation, to save it. To save them. To save us. To save all. Which we, too, are still learning.

Have you ever planted a seed and hoped it didn't grow? That's ridiculous, right? So it is with God and His Word. He wants those seeds that are planted by His pastors preaching His Word and by His people speaking His Word to grow and to bear fruit in the hearts and lives of those who hear. But how that happens, and when, and where, and how much, and how big, that is out of our control. And out of our understanding. So we are called to TRUST, to HUMILITY, and to PATIENCE. That it's God's seed, God's kingdom, and God's growth, not ours. That Word is living, active, and powerful. And working. We may not know how. We may not understand. But your Father in heaven does.

Divide and conquer is the devil's strategy. Unite and conquer is God's way. Divide and conquer. It's what satan has been doing from the beginning. It is said that our nation is more divided than it ever has been before. Perhaps. But it actually goes even further than that, as satan is not satisfied with dividing us from one another, but even within ourselves, as people now divide their minds from their bodies. So we heard today from some scribes who accused Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebub. But there, in that water combined with the Word of God, the Word of God made flesh is casting out unclean spirits and making children of God. Uniting us to God.

We worship the trinity in unity and the unity in trinity. That's what we just confessed in the Athanasian Creed. We worship this God. This God that cannot be explained, only proclaimed. All attempts to explain the mystery of God the Holy Trinity have failed. How God can be one yet three, three yet one. So we are left with a God we cannot fully understand, because He is so different and above us, but one we can trust, because He is good. And that is far better. And so it is with us. The Spirit, who like the wind, works when and where God wills, has worked in you. So this we proclaim. This we trust and believe. This we live. And this is our joy!

You want me to preach to bones. Lord, Ezekiel must have thought, you've asked me to do a lot of weird and unusual things in my prophetic career, but this! But at least bones won't hurt you or strike back at you. But for Peter and the other apostles, their congregation was dangerous. The Jews in Jerusalem, just 50-some days ago, had turned their frustration and anger against Jesus. And so the Old Testament festival of Pentecost was being fulfilled. Pentecost, the beginning of the harvest; and now God was beginning His harvest of souls. And where better to begin than in the shadow of the cross. The cross that made it all possible.